Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Last week, the New York Times reported that, despite making $14.2 billion in profits, General Electric, the largest corporation in the United States, paid zero U.S. taxes in 2010 and actually received tax credits of $3.2 billion dollars. The article noted that GE’s tax avoidance team is comprised of “former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.”

After not paying any taxes and making huge profits, ThinkProgress has learned that General Electric is expected to ask its nearly 15,000 unionized employees in the United States to make major concessions.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Prairie’s Wingnut comment of the week from the Pueblo Chiefly: (bolding mine):

A crowd of more than 200 people turned out Tuesday to hear local lawyer Don Banner try to persuade Pueblo County commissioners to zone 24,000 acres for the possible development of a nuclear power plant. And an even larger crowd — 500 — filled the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center on Wednesday to voice their opposition to building the power plant.

The $5 billion to $8 billion power plant would employ 500 to 700 high-paid workers, generate millions in taxes for local government and provide cheap, emission-less energy, Banner said.

“And then there's this: Profit margins at non-financial S&P 500 companies "will climb to 8.9 percent in 2011, the highest level in at least 18 years." You got that? Wait, it gets better: "CEOs are spending more on shareholders after stockpiling cash since 2008 when the financial crisis eliminated profits." Pop quiz: What word is missing there? In the entire article, there's no mention of "jobs." That's because, as Paul Krugman points out, corporations at this point don't give a fuck about you and your lack of employment. You're "being written off," says Krugman.

You aren't even a factor anymore. And why would you need to be? The wealthy have recovered quite nicely from the recession. Shareholders in corporations are reaping profits. Rich Americans are so secure at this point in feeding off the misery of the rest of the population that there's no point in even trying to hide their actions. The legislation that's being passed by Republicans in state governments in stripping away the last vestiges of worker rights is just codifying what has already occurred: the marginalization of the American worker, or, to put it another way, the destruction of the American worker and the elevation of the American consumer, dependent on banks and cobbled together incomes to merely pay the interest on the shit that's been purchased. If it's your home, you get to pay until the wealthy can just take it away and then re-sell it to another soon-to-be failed consumer lost in a clusterfuck of financial regulations and outright fraud.

You want more evidence that you are on the menu for the rich? A study of Minnesota's income tax burden shows that the bottom 90% of income earners pay 12.3% in state and local taxes. The top 10% of earners? They pay 10.3%. In other words, you pay 20% more taxes if you are not wealthy.”

Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives, the Internal Revenue Service would be forced to police how Americans have paid for their abortions. To ensure that taxpayers complied with the law, IRS agents would have to investigate whether certain terminated pregnancies were the result of rape or incest. And one tax expert says that the measure could even lead to questions on tax forms: Have you had an abortion? Did you keep your receipt?

Back from a trip to Denver, amazing how things have changed since I make it up there only occasionally instead of weekly. I counted 13 medical marijuana clinics between Quebec and Alameda on Leetsdale.
Lots of new burger-and-fries joints as well. Got to use a gift card to TJ Maxx I've had for three years since neither P-town or the Springs have one. Waiting to use my gift card to Magiannos, same reason.
The best part? It took 90 minutes around trip from the edge of Aurora to visit a friend in Lakewood. Everything in Pueblo is 15 minutes away from wherever you are.

The rest of the trip was a venture into hospitals, hospital emergency rooms and the advancing specter of elder care. W7 blew up on my laptop and the DSL speed at the folks' place to slower than dial up (thanks, Quest!) so no surfing for me. Oh, did you see yesterday that AT&T is planning on charging extra for your internet service if you use too much of it ?http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/15/att-to-cap-users-internet-access-impose-fees-for-too-much-information/ This is an effort to shut down Netflix, of course. They've been planning this move for about two years, although at the time I was told by my listeners that that would never happen. The other providers will follow suit shortly, I'm sure.

Difficulties with a cell phone kept me on the line with four different Verizon techs for fours days. They closed the ticket twice (I know, I've been on the Baatan Death March To Close the Trouble Ticket myself) without resolving the issue. As far as I know it still isn't fixed.

In other annoying and alarming news: besides the Republicon Holy War to defund NPR and Planned Parenthood (where's my job, Boehner?) several new laws around the country are aimed at prosecuting women who have suffered a miscarriage if they had anything to do with causing that miscarriage. In Iowa, a woman entered the ER after a fall down the stairs; she mentioned to the nurse that she had considered an abortion early in the pregnancy as she had three children already and was in the middle of a divorce. She decided against it. The nurse told the Dr., who had here arrested on suspicion of throwing herself down the stairs to hid herself of the child. She spent two days in jail. Next up: women will bear the burden of proof of their innocence whenever they have a miscarriage. In three, two, one....

Boehner - you said it first. So where's my job?

So no photos today - Carbonite won't be finished with the restore I started yesterday afternoon for another nine hours. Folders are back, so far all empty. Certainly better than no files at all. I hope.

Other happy news: The Denver Post reported Sunday that Kaiser in Colorado, a non profit organization, has a $66 million surplus from your premium payments, to protect themselves from Obamacare, or something. Meanwhile Stephanie Miller reported yesterday on her radio show that Kaiser premiums (not necessarily Colorado) are rising 50% and for some 'insured', 80%.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

“The Republicans in Congress, and in states across the country are making no bones about their agenda: they desire to kill unions and worker's rights. They desire to kill the EPA, and kill any regulation regarding worker safety, drug safety, food safety, environmental safety -- you name it. They want to destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare reform with a thousand cuts until nothing is left but private accounts managed by by their buddies at Wall Street to which you are forced to contribute. They want to privatize prisons and schools.

They want an end to financial assistance to college students and their families (except football and basketball players, of course). They want to kill any investment in alternative fuels and public transportation. They desire the awarding of no-bid contracts to their "friends," i.e., the people who contributed the most to their political campaigns. Oh, and they want to make it ever more difficult, if not impossible, for innovative small businesses to compete with the corporate behemoths that dominate our political landscape. Indeed, without a middle class how can small businesses not dedicated to serving the desires of the rich survive?

In short, the goal of the New and Improved Tea Party Republican Governors and Legislators is to drive a stake through the heart of anyone who still believes he or she is a member of the middle class. As one of their own recently remarked those of us "slobs" in the middle class are a "different breed" the implication being that we are parasites on the body of corporate wealth and power rather than the collective engine of human labor and productivity that made that wealth and power possible.”

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie."